Hometech

You’ve got a friend in the Hometech Window Corporation. That’s the motto coming from Paul Boire, Vice President of the company.

“We try to treat everybody like a friend. People who work with us in our factory are excellent people who are dedicated and committed. Through thick and thin, there is nothing to be said about the company without these people,” said Boire.

Quality products by quality people

As a window manufacturer and supplier of vinyl sliding doors, Hometech has an authorized dealer network built on the foundation of its solid reputation. As such, Hometech appeases its dealers with a quality product for third-party installation. Additionally, the Siding and Window Dealers Association of Canada pioneered new roads for the industry, like installation, insurance, and ethical codes, to further improve the product line.

“What I communicate in our sales seminars is that there should be something that distinguishes someone in the sales industry from a mugger, in that a mugger wants your money, but the product should be presented with strengths like an honest presentation. You don’t need to hide anything,” said Boire. “You treat a customer like a friend. Our sales forces across the region model that integrity, something we really value.”

A company that now employs more than 40 to 50 people, Hometech originally started as a facility of 2,500 square feet in Branford, Ontario, built by one of its partners. Today, it occupies a new, larger facility in Concord, Ontario. Founded by its original partners, Eros Gerardi and Ted Gawlik, beginning in the Greater Toronto Area, Hometech is now involved in a window sales market considered the most competitive in North America.

“In the last eight to nine years, we have succeeded in establishing ourselves in the marketplace as a real presence and earning a really good reputation,” added Boire.

Performance and design

Windows traditionally have had a rough industrial look, with rubber gaskets. But the Hometech brand, based on Georgian architectural ratios and rooted in Greek antiquity, incorporate a developed acrylic sealing system–innovative technology–to eliminate rubber strips and achieve an overall aesthetic value. A study of the sealed performance and its failure rate was within as little as 15 years (nine per cent had failed), and that is only by those customers who established a warranty claim.

A new product line, Cardinal insulated glass units, is the leading supplier of low-E glass today, with about 70 per cent of the market. It is the highest quality sealed unit, with a failure rate of 0.02 per cent over 20 years. No other reliable system is comparable. Meanwhile, the failure rate for sealed units is projected at 100 per cent after 40 years.

With a lifetime warranty on its products, what makes Hometech’s Contour Series so appealing is their classic Georgian architectural proportions; not too skinny and not too bulky. According to Boire, these beautiful ratios can be traced back to the brilliant aesthetic principles of the ancient Greeks “who certainly knew something about design”.

“We want to help people delivery as good a product as they can. I don’t think there is anything other than values in supporting our friends, and they are our friends, because they support us economically,” said Boire. “We’re not perfect, but when we make a mistake, we are out there. It is not a matter of cost, it is a matter of ‘let’s get this looked after’ and we will worry about the details later.”

Future goals

Moving forward, Hometech wants to remain true to its principles, primarily treating everybody like a friend, while also broadening its marketing efforts to expand beyond the GTA in servicing more parts of the province.

“The window industry had an opening for renovations for the existing homeowner. Almost 20 per cent of national energy is used through heating and cooling. Very early on I could see that the product that was being developed was ‘new generation’. The innovation of this new generation aspect was with this new window line, we moved from good performance durability and functionality and introduced a high degree of contouring and styling,” said Boire.

Hometech brought the aesthetic values, with vinyl windows looking flat and boxy, with the company being the first in innovation for a nicely finished product both inside and outside of the home.

“I think there is a really good science behind this Global Warming phenomenon. I think it is real and that it is a real problem,” added Boire.

Along with that, Hometech has introduced a radical shift in window glazing—put the glass portion into the frames—eliminating the rubber strips that surround windows, for a three-pronged effect of an improved long-term performance, improved structural strength of the product,and a better overall look.

Market value

The Economic Action Plan of the Federal Government of Canada allowed for tax rebates up to $1,400 was a major incentive for people to keep buying and to keep the manufacturing industry alive.

“While General Motors was quaking, we were still quite busy. Because of that program, we sailed through the downturn, which inflicted so many. We were very fortunate to come through that as well as we did.”